Up to No Good
by roses1036
Summary: A terrible war is spreading, and they all have so far yet to go. Nobody realises just how little time they have left. It's an old story, but one that will always be special. It's James, Sirius, Lupin, Peter, Marlene, but most of all it's Lily's story.
1. Letters, Firsts and a Sorting

**Up to No Good**

**A/N** Okay so this is my first ever fic of any kind, very excited for it – big plans. There will be nice little fluffy bits eventually, but couched in actual story as well, because who doesn't love the marauders, and the seventies, and Hogwarts, and all things amazing.

Disclaimer - I own everything, it was all my idea, JK overheard to me sleep-talking on a train. Not.

**First Year**

_- Chapter One -_

_The Beginning - Letters, Firsts and a Sorting_

A young Lily Evans thundered down the stairs, answering her parents' call. When she slid to a stop in the kitchen, she saw that they were holding a piece of paper, and that an envelope sat on the table, with spidery green writing on it, and an elaborate crest in the top right corner where the stamp should have been. She could just decipher the slanting words underneath it;

_Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_Miss Lily Evans,_

_Second Bedroom,_

_85a Kingsmead Square,_

_Cokeworth_

'Lily there's been a letter for you,' her mother began, sounding very cautious and confused. Her father looked mildly amused.

But Lily had no time for that, this was IT she was sure of it. This was the letter that Severus had said would come. Then a horrible thought struck her, what if he was just playing a joke on her? What if it wasn't real, what if none of it was? She snatched the letter from her mothers grasp and read it desperately, willing it to be real.

_Dear Miss Evans,_

_We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment._

_Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31._

_Yours Sincerely,_

_Albus Dumbledore_

_Headmaster_

Lily could barely contain her excitement, it certainly didn't look like Sev had written this, she was sure his handwriting wasn't nearly neat enough. While she had been reading, he parents had gone to answer the door; she could hear the chatter coming down the hall. It was all there, the list of equipment included a wand, wizarding robes and beginners spellbooks. She heard footsteps coming down the hall back into the kitchen, and her parents reappeared with a very strange looking man in sweeping black robes.

"Hello Lily, lovely to meet you,' he said shaking her hand, 'sorry to barge in like this, I know it must be a bit of a shock to all of you, so I'm just here to help explain your letter,'

Lily was positively bursting with excitement, but she tried to stay calm, as she realised that this was going to be pretty difficult for her parents to understand. As the man launched into an explanation of Hogwarts and the wizarding world, Lily's mind wandered, she couldn't wait to tell Sev.

* * *

James Potter got his owl at breakfast. It was hardly a surprise, but nonetheless he was beyond excited. He couldn't quite believe he was finally going to Hogwarts. He had heard all about it from his parents and their friends, and he was more than ready to get going. His parents were taking him to Diagon Alley later in the afternoon to get his school things now that they had the list.

After he had eaten, James sped up to his room to write to Sirius, his absolute best friend, to see if he wanted to meet in Diagon Alley. He had met Sirius at some stuffy event for an obscure relation earlier that year, and they had hit it off right away.

* * *

Sirius' owl came that day as well, almost at the same time as a letter from James. He was desperately looking forward to Hogwarts, and not just for the usual reasons. He could not wait to get out of his house and away from his parents with their pureblood obsession. They approved of James, but not of his parents, as they had notoriously kind views of muggle-borns and muggles. Sirius just didn't get it, who cared what someone's parent were?

He was a bit guilty about the idea of leaving his brother alone with his parents though. Regulus was far meeker than Sirius had ever been, and while he looked up to his older brother, he did worry what might happen if he wasn't around to shelter him from the full onslaught of their parents' insanity.

He was seriously looking forward to spending more time with James though. His parents didn't really like it when he spent too much time at the Potters'; the term 'blood traitor' got thrown around a lot whenever he wanted to visit. For obvious reasons, he hadn't wanted James to come to his house, so they had mostly just been hanging out in Diagon Alley.

* * *

The arrival of Remus Lupins letter was a sombre affair. His parents had been sure he wouldn't get one at all, and now that he had, they were still very reluctant to let him go.

'What if he bites someone,' he heard his mother hiss in the next room. Remus sat dejectedly in the living room, wishing, for what had to be the thousandth time that he could just be ordinary.

The doorbell rand, and he went to answer it himself, not wanting to walking in on his parents talk. When he opened the door, it was to find a very odd looking man standing there. He had auburn hair and a matching beard and wore half-moon spectacles on his crooked nose.

'Hello Remus, my name is Albus Dumbledore,' he said kindly, bending down to peer at him more closely, 'Would you mind if I had a quick word with your parents?' As he finished speaking, his father came out into the hall. When he saw Dumbledore he stopped dead, and a dark expression clouded his features.

'You didn't need to come,' he said tersely, 'we know he can't go to school, frankly I don't know why you sent the letter in the first place if you were just going come here and ask us to keep him away,'

'But my good man,' Dumbledore replied, smiling, 'you misunderstand my intentions I'm afraid. I see no reason at all why young Remus here should be denied his education, I merely came here to work out some of the particulars with you, that is,' he paused, eyes twinkling, 'if you are happy for him to attend?'

Remus' heart leapt, and Mr Lupin looked like he might cry.

* * *

Mr Ollivander eyed Lily shrewdly before turning away, searching through the boxes and boxes of wands. Lily wasn't entirely sure she liked his cold, silver eyes; they made her very nervous for some reason, like he knew something about her that even she didn't. As she was sitting contemplating whether he would ever some back from the storeroom, another family entered the shop. It was a boy her age, with messy black hair, and both of his parents.

'What's your wand again dad?' the boy asked his father, sounding very excited. 'Maple,' replied the tall man.

Lily looked away quickly. Apart from Sev, she'd had had no contact at all with anyone else from the magical world, and today in Diagon Alley had left her feeling excited, but also very intimidated and withdrawn. She was still worried that someone would realise how out of place she was, and tell her the whole things was actually a mistake. That was actually why she'd left her wand buying for last, there was a small part of her that was absolutely sure Ollivander would not be able to find a wand for her.

Right at that moment however, he reappeared, carrying with him a stack of five wand boxes. He handed her the first.

'Well, give it a wave,' he instructed quite kindly. Lily did so, feeling immensely foolish, especially now that she wasn't alone in the shop. The boy with the messy black hair was definitely watching her.

She had barely lifted the wand, when Ollivander snatched it out of her hand and passed her a different one. Taken aback, but determined to press on with it, she waved the second one. As it arced through the air, a shower of glittering golden sparks erupted from its tip and hung in front of her. Lily gasped, and looked quickly at Mr Ollivander to gauge his reaction. He was wearing a broad smile, 'Ah wonderful, another successful pairing, you two were made for each other I see. You know,' he mused thoughtfully, 'this lovely little wand was one of the first I even made with dragon heartstring as the core? I've been waiting for it to pick someone for years.'

Though not entirely sure what to make of this, Lily was pleased beyond measure. She looked at the wand in her hand and read the little tag that was fixed to the handle '10 ¼ in. Willow. Dragon Heartstring,' she gave it another tentative wave, causing another shower of golden stars, and thought she heard the boys mother supress a chuckle.

Ollivander spoke again, 'You're lucky young woman, I'm quite proud of that wand, it's very supple, going to be excellent for charms, only would have chosen someone talented,' he tapered off, talking to himself. Somewhat bemused, Lily followed him over to pay for her wand, and then left the store in search of her parents, who had waited in the Leaky Cauldron.

* * *

James watched idly as the girl with the bright red hair skipped out of the shop. He supposed she was going to Hogwarts this year as well, and rather belatedly he wished he had said hello. It would be good to make some new friends, and she seemed interesting enough.

Ollivander wandered over to the Potter family, still muttering something indistinct about powerful charms, 'Hello Mr Potter,' he greeted the elder man, 'I suppose young James here will be needing his wand then?' He looked at James rather critically for a few moments and, after taking some very obscure measurements, (like the distance from the tip of his nose to his knees) wandered off to look for some likely candidates.

'Is he always that strange?' asked James with interest, looking at his parents, 'and what does he mean he's been waiting for that girls wand to pick someone?' Evangeline Potter started to answer her son, but before she could begin, Mr Ollivander spoke from the stacks in his raspy, yet somehow shrewdly perceptive voice, 'The wand chooses the wizard, Mr Potter,' he called out, unnecessarily cryptically, in James' opinion.

Shortly after, James began waving his way through the tower of wands Ollivander had brought out for him. However unlike the previous girl, he did not have much immediate success. It was after the fourteenth wand had been hurriedly put aside after causing an innocent armchair to burst alight with hissing green flame, that Ollivander seemed to have a thought. He shuffled off into the stack again, emerging quickly with a new box, that he handed to James.

James waved the mahogany wand without much hope, but was happily surprised when he showered his parents in familiar golden sparks.

'Wonderful!' cried Ollivander jubilantly. 'Mahogany, 11 inches, dragon heartstring, quite pliable too you should excel at transfiguration with that wand young Mr Potter,' he quieted down a little, and the Potters moved forward to pay for their sons wand, looking faintly amused, but definitely ready to get out of the shop.

'Farewell, have a good year and take care of that wand boy,' he called after them, as the exited his shop.

As the door tinkled shut, a knowing little smile played around the edges of Ollivander's lips. He wondered what sort of interaction the two children he had just served were going to have. After all, the cores of their wands had come from the heart of the same dragon. It was, like he had told the girl, one of the first times he had used the material, he had had to travel up to the Swiss Alps to get a hold of the heart. Whatever those two where going to have to do with one another, he thought, it was definitely going to be interesting.

* * *

The morning of September the first, 1971, dawned crisp and clear. Platform 9 ¾ was bustling with students returning from the summer holiday, excitedly seeking out their classmates, and the first years on the platform hung back with their parents, looking nervous but excited.

The exceptions to this behaviour were two boys, who didn't seem the least bit frightened. They ran through the crowd to reach the train, knocking over trunks, owls and bowling past miffed looking groups of seventh years.

As Lily watched, they sent one girls cauldron full of textbooks spinning across the crowded platform. She thought they were being exceptionally rude, though a small part of her was jealous at the ease with which they seemed to click into place in this new world of hers. She supposed they must have come from magical families. She was standing with her parents, who were a bit out of sorts among the owls and trunks and magical families, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves nonetheless. Tuney, on the other hand, looked positively murderous. She hadn't spoken a word to Lily since she had found out she was going away to school, and Lily was really hoping she would soften up a bit when faced with her actually leaving.

Needless to say, she was dead wrong.

When it was time for goodbyes, Lily turned to her sister. 'Tuney,' she began hopefully, but her elder sister just glared down at her. 'Tuney,' Lily resolutely pressed on, determined to get at least a goodbye out of her sister and erstwhile best friend. 'Tuney, I'll miss you.'

'Well, too bad,' said Petunia softly 'too bad, it's your own fault you're going away, leaving me behind for this stupid stuff.'

'I wish you could come with me Tuney, I really do…' but she stopped talking, because Petunia had started to walk away from her.

'I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry! Listen –' she grabbed her sister's hand and held on tight, even when she tried to pull away. She was desperate now, worried that she was just making everything worse between them, but more words kept spilling out of her, 'maybe once I'm there – no, listen, Tuney! Maybe once I'm there I'll be able to go to Professor Dumbledore and persuade him to change his mind!' Lily hope Petunia wouldn't pick up on the phrasing of that unfortunate sentence, absolutely the worst thing right now would be if she found out that Lily had gone through her things

'I don't – want – to – go!' Petunia hissed, trying to wrench her hand out of Lily's grasp. 'You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a – a…'

Lily watched as her sister looked around the busy platform filled with robed wizards and witches, owls in cages and some flying around and the scarlet steam engine humming as it sat waiting to convey them all to Hogwarts.

'You think I want to be a – a freak?' she finished, quietly. Lily's heart broke. Her big sister… Her eyes filled with hot tears as she let go of Petunia's hand.

'I'm not a freak,' said Lily to her sister's back. 'That's a horrible thing to say.'

'That's where you're going,' Petunia continued mercilessly, 'a special school for freaks. You and that Snape boy… weirdos, that's what you two are. It's good you're being separated from normal people. It's for our safety.'

At this, Lily chanced a quick look at their parents. Luckily they were paying no attention, totally enraptured by the magical world around them. When she turned back to Tuney, her heart felt suddenly cold with anger.

'You didn't think it was such a freak's school when you wrote to the headmaster and begged him to take you,' she shot cruelly. Instantly though, Lily regretted it, and the goodbyes were definitely downhill form there.

Thus it was with a heavy heart that Lily Evans first stepped aboard the Hogwarts express. The looked despondently around for Sev, and found him sitting awkwardly in a compartment with the two boys that had been racing around the platform earlier.

She flopped down next to him on the seat, feeling utterly rubbish. She had tried to ignore him at first, blaming him for reading her sister's letter, but in all honesty, he was now just about her only friend. That didn't mean he was forgiven, mind, she just didn't want to alienate the only person that liked her at the moment. Plus Sev had meant well, he had only been trying to help her work out what Tuney's problem was, honestly it had been as much her fault as his. She was about to say as much to him, when he broke the silence himself.

'You better be in Slytherin,' he told her, and she smiled in response. She really did hope they were going to end up in the same house.

'Slytherin?' said one of the other boys, who up until this moment had shown no interest at all in either Lily or Snape. Lily realised then that this was the same boy that she had seen briefly in Mr Ollivander's shop when she was getting her wand. He was slight and black-haired, but it seemed to Lily that he had that indefinable air of someone who was _cared for_. It was only noticeable to her really because she had always thought it was something Sev so obviously lacked.

'Who wants to be in Slytherin?' the boy continued, 'I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?' he turned to his companion, raising an eyebrow questioningly.

The other boy didn't look up, but mumbled something that might have been, 'my whole family have been in Slytherin.'

'Blimey,' said the first boy, 'and I thought you seemed alright!'

The boy with straighter hair looked up with a grin at this, and said, 'maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you headed, if you've got the choice?'

The boy from the wand shop jumped up onto the seat, and held aloft an imaginary sword. Lily was almost laughing, but she caught a strangely gloomy look on Sev's face and supressed her smile.

'Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart! Like my dad.' From beside her, Lily heard Sev make a contemptuous snorting noise, and the boy rounded on him. 'Got a problem with that?' he challenged.

'No,' Sev replied, though Lily thought that was a bit rich since he was definitely sneering. He continued, 'if you'd rather be brawny than brainy – '

'Where are you hoping to go then, seeing as you're neither?' interjected the seated boy. The messy-haired one roared with laughter at this, and hopped down. Lily was fast getting angry at these cruel, self-entitled boys. She was not in the mood to be messed with any more today. Perhaps too, she was feeling guilty for the things she had said to Petunia at the station, and was trying to make up for it by sticking up for Severus. She could feel her face getting warm as her anger rose, but she kept it together.

'Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment,' she said icily. Another compartment _not_ populated by jerks, she thought to herself.

'Ooooooooo,' said the boys in unison, mocking her lofty tones. She was at the door, and turned around just in time to see the boy from the shop try to strip Sev up as he made to follow her.

She slammed the door behind them, but not before they caught a 'see ya, Snivellus!' and more gales of self-satisfied laughter from the compartment. Sev looked utterly livid when she turned to face him.

'Let's just… go' he said in response to her questioning look.

As she walked down the corridor with Sev in tow, Lily reflected that this day, though supposed to be amazing, couldn't have started worse. She had one other thought as she scanned for empty compartments, if she ended up in the same house as those two horrible boys, she was going to have to hit something, hard.

* * *

As the first years filed nervously into the great hall, a hush descended. They radiated that classic combination of fear and delicious anticipation. Lily Evans gasped when she saw the starry night sky reflected in the vast ceiling, and nudged Severus Snape. Even students who had come from old wizarding families could not help but be amazed by the sight of the great hall. There was, of course, only so much of the magic and majesty of the place that could be imparted in a retelling. Toward the back of the group, James Potter grinned broadly, knowing instantly that this was where he was meant to be.

Lily could see a raggedy old hat sitting on a stool in the middle of the hall. She watched, fascinated, as a rip near the brim opened up, and the hat began to sing. It outlined the defining characteristics of the four Hogwarts houses; Gryffindors were brave, Slytherins were cunning, Hufflepuffs were loyal and Ravenclaws were intelligent. Lily thought all of the houses sounded pretty good to her, but even though she knew what Sev though about them, her brief assessment of the Slytherin house table left her feeling a bit uneasy.

When she looked back to the hat, it was just finishing up its song, ending with a warning of sorts. This, obviously, was not standard practise. Lily noticed that the previously silent hall was not filled with a buzz of chatter, many of the older students where exchanging significant looks. Lily didn't really see what the fuss was about, the hat hadn't said anything that sensational – just a bit about house unity and that sorting really didn't have to be the end of it.

Scowling at the murmuring students, Professor McGonagall came forward again, bearing a long list, and began to call out names. Lily was very _very_ relieved to realise that all they had to do was try the hat on. Some of the tension she was feeling slackened, but she was still on tenterhooks waiting for her name to be called.

* * *

'Black, Sirius' rang out through the hall. Sirius moved toward the hat in what he hoped was a casual saunter. In actual fact, he hadn't felt this nervous in about as long as he could remember. He was dreading the inevitable cry of 'Slytherin!' He could just imagine having to spend seven bloody years with a pack of slimy –

He had reached the stool. He sat down, and pulled the hat over his head. The brim flopped down over his eyes and he could no longer see the great hall. The buzz of chatter grew very faint and muffled, and he heard a voice inside his head.

'Ah, another Black I see. Yes well interesting though, because I think the name might just be the end of your family resemblance. Don't get me wrong, it's all here the cunning, a dash of cruelty but you know, I don't think I've ever encountered a Black with such a liberal dash of righteous bravery and honour. I suppose though you will want uphold traditions…'

'NO' Sirius thought vehemently. 'No I hate the lot of them, with their sickening self-entitlement and pureblood bloody obsessions!' He had absolutely no idea what the hat was going to make of his little input, but he hoped against hope that he just might be able to keep himself out of that revolting house.

'Interesting,' said that hat, almost lazily, 'you know, I think you might be right. Better be… GRYFFINDOR!' The hat shouted the last word out to the whole hall.

Sirius sat there for a few seconds before he realised what had just happened. Then, ever so slowly, a kind of warm happiness seemed to seep into him.

Not Slytherin.

* * *

Lily felt as though her legs had turned to lead when her name was called. Somehow she managed to move forwards, towards the tatty hat on the stool.

With somewhat shaking hands, she reached for the hat, sat down, and jammed it over her head, covering her eyes.

'Well… well,' mused a sardonic voice in her head. Lily nearly jumped in shock, but she managed to keep still in the end, not wanting to look like a total prat in front of the whole school.

'Yes,' continued the voice, 'yes I think so… incredibly smart, driven of course but there is something else… something deeper,' it was silent for a few moments.

'Ah! There it is!' crowed the voice, triumphantly, 'I knew it, such strength of will and so just… Just perfect for GRYFFINDOR!' as the hat shouted out the last, Lily took it off with much steadier hands.

Though she hated herself for it, she was desperately glad she was not in Slytherin. She chanced a look at Sev, who looked, just for a moment, as though the world had ended.

A short while after she had settled herself at the Gryffindor table – to her dismay near the Black kid – another boy was sorted into Gryffindor. Remus Lupin, a kind looking boy in robes that had definitely seen better days. He had a very kind face, though he didn't sit with the other first-years, apparently wanting to keep to himself.

'Pettigrew, Peter,' a short, tubby little boy sat on the stool for at least ten minutes before the hat shouted out GRYFFINDOR! At which he positively beamed and came over to join them.

Then the nasty boy from the wand shop came forward at 'Potter, James,' and was almost instantly sorted into her house as well. Honestly, she thought with disgust, the hat barely even touched his stupid messy hair. Well she didn't care if they had to be in the same house, she certainly wasn't having anything to do with him after the way he had behaved.

By this stage, Lily found that she was getting rather hungry, and wondered if Dumbledore was going to give a speech after the sorting or if they could just eat.

A few more of the first years were sorted, and the numbers were dwindling now. 'Price, Marlene,' became a Gryffindor as well, and sat down next to Lily, looking flushed but excited.

Then 'Slifer, Amaranth,' a very pretty girl with dark hair was sorted into Hufflepuff, and all of a sudden Lily's heart began to race.

'Snape, Severus,' reached her ears in McGonagall's ringing voice, and Lily saw him make his way toward the hat. Much to her annoyance, she noticed that Black and Potter seemed to be laughing about something.

Sev sat there for about a minute, before the sorting hat called out loudly, 'SLYTHERIN!' and Lily groaned loudly, she tried to catch his eye but he wasn't looking at her table. He was headed toward his fellow Slytherins. Lily though again that they looked like a rather unpleasant lot, and hoped Sev would be okay with them.

Finally, 'Zeller, Marion,' became a Ravenclaw, and silence fell in the great hall, as Professor Dumbledore rose from his seat at the high table.

'Good evening one an all, and welcome to a new year at Hogwarts,' he said, beaming down at the now sorted students. 'Whilst I am sure you desire nothing more than to make a start on our lovely feast, I do have just a few words to share with you all. We at Hogwarts have always been somewhat insulated from the political fluctuations of the wizarding world, much as our four founders intended I am sure. However, given recent events and rumours, I can only urge that we remain internally strong. That we may not draw lines between out great houses to be carried out into the world, but that we work together, to help each other and our wonderful school to prosper in peace. That is all. Eat up!' This last was delivered with a clap, and suddenly heaped dishes and tureens of food appeared on the five tables, and the students broke into excited chatter once more.

Lily wasn't really sure what to make of Dumbledore's words to them. She wasn't aware of the wizarding world as even having politics, though clearly in this instance she was missing something big. His words had been something of a reinforcement of the sentiments expressed earlier by the sorting hat. Well she would just have to ask Sev… That line of thought trailed off quickly, she had no idea if she would be able to find him tonight, but somehow she doubted it. Well, she though, steeling herself somewhat, they would surely have classes together. Not even her anxieties about Sev could hold out long against the deliciousness of the feast and the warm friendly chatter of the people surrounding her. Despite her worries, Lily went to bed that evening in her grand four-poster feeling very much content.

* * *

Okay, so, what do we think? I wanted to keep this story relatively Lily-centred; though sometimes important things can happen from any point of view. Basically this is almost a bit of a prologue to the story I really want to write, which is of course later in 6th and 7th year.

I still haven't decided if it should be totally 7th year or actually cover the 6th as well – let me know what you think?

*impending cliché you have been warned*

Please please spare a moment to review, I would love to hear your thoughts – is everybody in character? Is anything missing? Is it great? Is it rubbish?

Love love,

Rose


	2. Surprises

**I have so many ideas for this story I just wasn't sure where to start, which is why it has taken me such a bloody long time to get this chapter together, but it is coming along finally (much to the detriment of the literature review that is due in a few days, but we wont dwell on that now will we). **

**Obvs don't own this fabulous world.**

**Sixth Year**

_Chapter Two_

_Surprises_

Lily woke early on the second-last day of her sixth year at Hogwarts. Her exams were over and she had spent the last three days lounging down by the lake with her friends. Despite this seemingly idyllic existence, Lily Evans was not happy. In fact, with every passing day the feeling of leaden dread within her seemed to be intensifying. She knew why of course, it was the end of the school year. If she had it her way, Lily would have gladly stayed at Hogwarts all year round. It was not that Lily hated her parents or anything like that, no they were lovely and kind and caring and anything you would want. Not it wasn't her parents, it was everything else that went with being home for the summer that she hated. It was the constant fighting with Petunia, having to stay in the house for fear of running into Severus and his friends out on the streets and most of all she hated being cut off from the magical world. Normally it wouldn't be too bad though, she could spend time with her friends, visit Diagon Alley with them and go to their houses. But this summer they were going overseas. Olivia was to be travelling around Spain with her family, and Marlene was visiting her brother in Germany, where he was stationed with the Department of International Magical Co-operation. Lily had other friends too, but none she was as close to.

There was of course, one other reason that Lily was especially dreading her summer at home this year, but she was trying desperately hard not to think about it. Whenever she did, she was overcome with a horrible, sickening feeling of utter powerlessness. Four days ago, on the Friday morning of her final exam, she had received a letter at breakfast. It had been from her parents, well, sort of. They had written to her _on behalf_ of Petunia, who refused (of course) to use owl post. Her parents had sent Lily a crisp, white, _normal_ invitation to the wedding of Petunia Evans and Vernon Dursley. Lily would have bet money on her father having forced the invite out of Petunia

Besides the obvious, being that Vernon Dursley was a total pig of a man, Lily felt sick because she thought that this might be it. This might actually be the death blow to any chance she had of ever getting along with Petunia ever again. Her reasoning was simple; Vernon hated her, he hated anything abnormal, anything that challenged his view of the world in any way, and he didn't even know she was a witch yet. Lily doubted very much that Petunia would ever tell him, but she also knew that their wedding would quash any hope of ever fixing things between them. She had been hoping that once she'd finished school, she might be able to patch things up, but it looked like that was shot now.

Petunia was going to be staying at home all summer planning the wedding. The wedding was going to be held in the Christmas break. Wonderful way to ruin two perfectly good holidays.

She sighed internally as she unfurled the morning's _Prophet _'MAGICAL PEOPLES PROTECTION ACT: VOTE DIVIDED' and decided to tackle the paper after she had some food in her.

The thing was, she could almost tolerate the escalating deaths and disappearances more easily this rubbish. Every other week it seemed like there was a vote on some cleverly named piece of pseudo-death eater elitist legislation, but lately she had begun to notice the margins narrowing. The more cleverly worded the bill, the slicker it's advocates, the closer the votes became. This latest one was no different – registering muggle-borns for their own protection, _honestly_.

In her earlier years at Hogwarts, when Voldemort was a name known only to a few, and even when he started making his true colours known, it had seemed to Lily that it was death eaters versus the ministry, good versus evil. It was only in the last few years that she had seen how deeply ingrained some pureblood sympathies lay, how murky the lines really were.

Seeing murders in the headlines made her want to fight for those people and their families, seeing things like this even being dignified with a vote just made her feel powerless.

With all this in mind, and nobody awake yet to vent at, Lily decided that she should probably go for a walk, get her last Hogwarts fix before she was forced to leave. However it seemed like her relaxing farewell tour was not to be, because when she opened the door to leave the dormitory, she found herself standing face to face with Potter.

They both stood in silence for a second. Then after a beat, he said, 'Evans. Dumbledore wants to see us,'

Lily was still gathering her wits, which were never really at their best this early in the morning.

'Sorry, what?'

'I said,' he began again, as though talking to a particularly dim-witted child, 'Dumbledore wants to see us.'

'Right thanks Potter, like I believe that for a second,' because seriously, what could he possibly want with the two of them together.

'I know,' said James with a sigh, 'but look,' he handed her a piece of parchment.

It was covered in the narrow, slanting script of Albus Dumbledore, and it explained, in no uncertain terms, that they were both required in his office at their earliest convenience. Together.

'Fine,' Lily replied shortly, feeling instantly grumpier. Now she got to spend the morning trying not to argue with bloody Potter, which she knew to be an exhausting, and usually futile endeavour.

Potter, as a general rule, was one of her least favourite people. Oh sure everyone loved the bloody marauders, and sure, they could be funny when they wanted to be. She didn't have anything much against Peter or Remus, but the other two, well, that was a different story.

Closing the door softly so as not to wake the other girls, Lily left her dormitory, following James as he made his way out of the common room.

They walked in a kind of belligerent silence through the still deserted corridors towards Dumbledore's office.

Lily, of course had disliked him since their encounter on the train, but she thought the first time she had truly _despised_ him was the day of their Defence OWL, down by the lake. The worst day of Lily's life so far.

The one thing that could be said about that day, was, that at least it was the very last time he had asked her to go out with him. Since then they had co-existed in a kind of uneasy mutual-ignoring of one another. It was better than nothing. Well no, _nothing_ might actually be preferable, but it was certainly better than being constantly harassed by him. Lately, apart from being a casualty in the odd Marauder prank, Lily had very little to do with him at all.

Which was why it was particularly strange that they were currently making their way to Dumbledore's office, together. In days of old, at the height of their animosity, they were frequently in trouble at the same time, usually for something they had done, or just for constantly bickering in class. Once, Lily had given him horrible boils all over his face in a fit of rage during a particularly heated discussion over breakfast. It had taken Madame Pomfrey a week to get rid of them. He had retaliated by spiking her evening pumpkin juice with a potion that had forced her to speak in Latin for three days straight.

But they barely interacted anymore, so what could Dumbledore possibly have to say that required the two of them to be in the same room?

Lily shook her head in irritation, as if to physically clear her head of thoughts.

They had reached Dumbledore's office. Each looked expectantly at the other, and then groaned, as the realised simultaneously that neither of them new the password.

'I have a theory,' said Lily reluctantly, 'Dumbledore's passwords are always different kinds of sweets aren't they? So theoretically we could just guess it.'

James nodded, and then looked at her over the tops of his square glasses, 'I bet I get it before you do,'

'It's not fair though, you know more types of magical sweets than I do,' her mouth spoke almost of its own accord. She wanted nothing to do with Potter really, but the hint of competition…

'All right, we'll make it fairer. If I win, then I just win. But, if you win, I'll…' he petered off, unable to think of a suitable incentive.

'You'll take Moaning Myrtle on a date!' Lily interjected, in a fit of cruel inspiration.

James made a face, but agreed. 'Okay one guess at a time then.'

'Sugar Quills,' he began with, but the gargoyle guarding the door was unmoved.

'Cockroach Cluster,' tried Lily, but still nothing happened.

'Fudge Flies.'

'Ice Mice.'

'Liquorice Wand.'

'Acid Pop.'

'Jelly Slug.'

'Mint Humbug,' Lily had to resort to muggle sweets now, as she had run out of magical ideas.

'Fizzing Whizzbee,' said James, throwing her an odd look.

'Flying Saucer.'

Much to Lily's surprise, the gargoyle gave a little smile, and then moved aside, revealing a spiral staircase.

'What the hell is a flying saucer?' said James indignantly.

'Muggle sweet,' she replied with an evil smile, 'enjoy your date Potter.'

James turned angrily and stomped up the steps. Lily followed, feeling better than she had all morning. She was going to buy a great big bag of flying saucers as soon as she got home.

When they reached to door to the office, they stopped. Lily was unsure of what to do, not wanting to intrude, but James knocked determinedly. As he did so, the door swung open, and the obviously empty office came into view. Not to be out-braved by Potter, Lily strode inside and sat down on the chair facing the desk, leaving him to stand awkwardly to the side. She felt another delightful surge of success; for some reason beating Potter at things just made her feel _good_.

He didn't comment on the chair, instead he just conjured himself a luxurious looking chintz armchair and sat down as well. Lily huffed loudly.

After about five minutes, Dumbledore swept into the office. He raised an eyebrow curiously at the sight of James' overstuffed chair, but did not comment, and too his own seat opposite the two of them.

'Well then I suppose you are wondering why I called you both here,' this was more of a statement than a question, and Lily did not feel obliged to state the obvious answer. Plus she had noticed that Dumbledore had that gleeful little twinkle in his eye that he tended to get when he was about to do something that only he seemed to think was a good idea.

Lily had the strangest feeling of impending doom as Dumbledore opened his mouth to continue.

'I have decided to tell you both this now, because although it is customary to receive notification along with your booklists, we have some pressing issues to attend to, and I would like you both to be informed sooner rather than later. Also, judging by past experience,' he paused and his mouth twitched as though he was trying not to smile, 'you may both need a little time to assimilate. Though the positions of Head Boy and Girl have always been ones of leadership and responsibility, they have never been more import-'

He was cut off at this point as the two shocked students shouted, at the same time, 'WHAT?'

'What are you making _him_ Head Boy for?'

'Why me?'

They glared at each other for a second, and then turned back to Dumbledore, daring him to explain.

'Allow me to elaborate; to me you are both the best and most obvious choices for the role. Lily you are intelligent, quick and brave, as are you James. It is not as odd as you may believe to select Heads not from the pool of current prefects, so long as you believe, as I do, that they will be the best for the job. Of all those in your class, I believe you to be the most capable and suited to this task.'

Lily was still reeling. She looked over at Potter again, and noted that he looked sort of dazed. She wanted to argue with Dumbledore, but such praise from him meant a lot, and she was reticent to make a spectacle of herself right after he had just pronounced his firm belief in her seemed so childish. Seriously though, _Potter?_ Really? It was too much to take in, and despite her growing dread at the though of a year spent working with Potter, she could feel a warm sense of pride building in her. _Head Girl. _She couldn't wait to tell her parents. _Oh Merlin, wait until Liv and Lena hear about this!_

'Now, as to the reason I have broken this news early. I would like you to begin your duties slightly earlier than is customary.' He fished a piece of parchment from the pile on his desk, and passed it over to them, it was a list of names and addresses.

'The names you see on that list are the students who will be beginning their first years at Hogwarts this coming September, and the ones I have marked, are muggle-born. I am giving you this list, because as I am sure you know, muggle-borns are in particular danger now, and though the children themselves will be safe at Hogwarts, I believe it is not long until their parents become a target for Voldemort's so-called Death Eaters. What I would like you to do is visit their homes over the course of the summer, and cast protective wards. I would normally have the teachers perform such a task, but they are stretched thin on ah- _other_ duties, and some are a tad too sympathetic to the notion of pure-blood supremacy to take the task seriously enough. I think you both more than capable of the strong magic required to make such spells effective, and possessed of the determination to do the job properly. What I do ask is that you make every effort to remain unseen, and to be as careful as you can.'

There was a moment of silence as they took in what Dumbledore had just asked them to do. For one thing, he had basically said he thought they were as capable as the teachers, and more importantly, did this honestly mean she had to spend her summer going up and down the country with Potter in the dead of night? She had no idea where to even begin.

She her mind drifted a bit as Dumbledore began outlining specifics for them, what spells to use, where to start.

Before long, they were making their way down his spiral staircase, and back to the common room. They walked in silence, neither of them really knowing what to say.

Potter gave the Fat Lady the password (_Hinkypunk_), and Lily hurried inside and flopped down on one of the comfortable chairs by the fire. She felt somehow exhausted, even though it was still almost first-thing in the morning. Honestly she didn't even have the energy to be properly annoyed yet about the whole Potter-Head-Boy thing. _Yet_.

'When did you want to start then?' he asked her, speculatively though, as if he were unsure whether she might hex him.

To be fair, it's not like that hadn't happened before.

'No idea,' she sighed, 'look I can't really think about anything right now, for some reason my brain has decided to check out, can we just sort this out later please.' With that, she got up, and went up to the dorm to get Liv and Lena for breakfast.

* * *

James was left standing in the common room alone, thinking maybe he hadn't actually woken up yet, and all this madness was actually just a terrible terrible dream. With a sigh, he went back up to his bed, and fell asleep again.

He was woken only a moment later though, when Sirius decided it was a good idea to let off some fireworks. Apparently he hadn't run out of post-exam cheer just yet. James groaned, and then groaned again when he remembered everything that had already happened this morning.

What, in the name of Merlin's fucking pants was Dumbledore thinking. He was absolutely the last person who should be Head Boy. He knew this, because whilst ideally he would stop the pranks and the cutting class and the generally just breaking rules, he knew for a fact that he wouldn't. And of course there was Lily. Lily who had barely spoken two words to him in all of a year. Well, she would just have to deal with it. The stick up her arse was definitely not his problem.

What he was really, truly dreading though, was telling the others.

* * *

'So, I have news,' said Lily at breakfast. She was feeling a bit better now that she had both food and her friends with her.

'Oh yes?' said Lena quizzically, and Olivia just looked up from her bacon.

'I saw Dumbledore this morning, with Potter of all people,' now they both just looked confused, she had better just spit it out. 'He's made us Head Boy and Girl.'

There was another moment of stunned silence, and then the two of them just burst out laughing. Olivia actually spilled her pumpkin juice all over the table and Lena was clearly having trouble breathing. Knowing she would never be able to talk to them like this Lily waited it out, picking at her own breakfast absentmindedly.

'So I guess you just told them the dreadful news?' came the voice of Sirius Black from right behind her, 'that was pretty much out reaction too, wait until they realise you're being serious.'

'W-what,' Liv managed, getting herself together, 'you can't honestly tell me that anyone in their right mind would put those two together, AND give them a massive amount of responsibility!'

'I know,' Sirius lamented, 'we'll be taking them home in pieces by the end of the first week,'

'Well I think they'll do fine,' Lena piped in.

'This from the girl who went non-verbal with laughter when she found out?' I asked her. Honestly some friends these two were.

'Has she told you the best bit? He's got them working together over the holiday's too,' Sirius looked positively gleeful at this, and it was too much.

'I wasn't asking for your input, Black,' She knew how much he hated the name, 'In fact, I don't recall _ever_ asking for your input,' and Lily stalked off. Time for that walk in the grounds. It was delicious and sunny and she was going to make the most of it.

* * *

'My money's on two days before she hexes him,' Sirius said cheekily to the two girls, who had started laughing again as soon as Lily had left.

'I think he'll be lucky to make it back to London at this rate, I don't think it's really sunk in for her yet. But when it does…' said Liv with a sigh.

'5 galleons and you're on,' he smiled at her.

* * *

It was mid-afternoon when it actually hit her. She was Head Girl. That implied so much, well, _responsibility_. And a whole bunch of other things to that everyone always seemed to associate with her without a second thought. Didn't Dumbledore realise it was all bullshit? Lily was no more together than the next person, in fact she was probably less so.

Also, how bad had the war gotten that they were sending a pair of unqualified, untested students to protect people? Was there nobody better? But she thought back to the constant _Prophet_ ads for Auror careers and magical law enforcement. They were dropping like flies, but the Ministry was persisting with its appeasement strategy. There were a number of people trying to push through bills that favoured purebloods, yet more lobbying for the abolition of the Muggle Protection Act, and two weeks ago the head of the Wizengamot had ostensibly 'resigned,' but rumour abounded that he had a few too many muggle-born sympathies.

A few years ago, Lily had actually thought she would like to be an Auror, make a difference, fight the good fight and all that. She had soon realised however, that the Auror office these days was crippled and ineffective. The Ministry was trying too hard to tip-toe around Voldemort for them to be much other than a target for Death Eaters looking for a challenge.

There were rumours though, about another group. One that was out there helping, standing up to Voldemort directly and totally outside of Ministry control. Lily hoped that were true, but even if it were, it seemed unlikely to be anything she would be involved in. You needed to know people to get places in the magical world, and she only had her classmates and teachers.

She was going to go mad trying to keep all her worries and thoughts in order.

Lily was still looking moodily out over the lake when she walked straight into something solid. With an '_ooof' _she stumbled back a bit.

'Sorry,' she said reflexively.

'Ah it's okay,'

She looked up to see a tall-ish Ravenclaw boy sprawled on the ground in front of her, looking surprised, but also happy. He had dirty blond hair and marvellous bright blue eyes. Lily wasn't normally a blue eyes sort of girl, but she thought she might be able to make an exception just this once. She offered him a hand up and he took it.

'You're Lily, right?' he asked, brushing the dirt off his jeans.

'Yeah,' she thought for a moment, trying to work out who he was. She wanted to say Garry….

'Gordon Russell,' he said mercifully, holding out his hand. She took it, and they shook.

'Well it's lovely to meet you. Aren't you on the Quidditch team? Sorry again for knocking you over'

'Keeper, and don't worry it's fine really, I was brooding, it's probably a good thing you snapped me out of it.'

'Brooding about what exactly?' he looked so light and happy that Lily couldn't imagine him having anything to worry over.

He paused for a second, as if tossing up how exactly to answer she, and she realised that she might be being a bit nosy given she'd only just met him.

'Well, this is going to sound weird, but I'm not exactly looking forward to the holidays.'

Lily heaved a sigh, and then replied 'no, trust me, that doesn't sound weird at all. What is it you are dreading exactly?' for some reason her mouth just kept spouting personal questions, she seemed to have very little control over it at the moment.

He paused for another moment, 'My dad died a few weeks ago, and it's the first time I've been home since. My mum didn't want me to miss the exams. Wow sorry to dump all this on you.'

Though a little taken aback, Lily felt bad for him 'No it's fine really, this really puts my problems into perspective. I expect you want to be alone then, sorry for intruding.' She was about to leave when he said hurriedly,

'No, stay, if you want to that is, it's nice to talk about it, and surprisingly easy given that I've only just met you.' He gave a wry smile, which she returned. 'So now you know all about me, why is that you are dreading home this year?'

At this, Lily launched into a detailed explanation of Petunia, which she wasn't sure he fully appreciated, having no siblings himself, but he listened well, and it was really nice to get it off her chest to someone who didn't know anything about her. She didn't mention the war though. Somehow Lily just felt that it didn't have a place in this conversation.

He told her about his dad, and how lonely his mum was now. About how he felt selfish but he didn't want to be in the house with her because it was so empty and depressing.

'If it's not too personal a question,' She prompted, 'how did he die?'

'No it's okay, he was killed by Death Eaters. He was really pro-muggle, he spent a lot of his time at the Ministry lobbying against those registration bills and such. Just shows you what you get. As far as I'm concerned, you just have to keep your head down.'

Lily had no reply to that. Sure if you kept a low profile you wouldn't draw dangerous attention, but still… some things were worth the risk. However, given that his father had just been killed, it was understandable he wouldn't see it that way right now.

'It's getting dark,' she commented.

'Yeah, we'd better get back up to the castle,' he stood awkwardly and she followed suit. It felt like something heavy was hanging in the air between them.

'It's been really nice talking to you,' Lily said, trying to ease the tension.

'Yeah, thanks for listening too me.' He looked down at his feet, 'Look I know this is kind of presumptuous, but did you want to maybe catch up over the summer,' this last bit came out so fast it took her a moment to decipher it.

'Um,' why was she hesitating? 'Yeah sure, that would be really nice Gordon,'

He broke into a wide grin again, 'I'll owl you then,' and he started to walk away, stopped mid stride and came back to kiss her on the cheek.

She flushed bright red, but managed a 'goodbye.'

* * *

'But Prongs,' Sirius whined, 'It's the last night of the year, if we don't get a little drunk people will think we've lost our edge.'

James shot him a disparaging look. Honestly he was pretty tempted, but all things considered, he thought it might not be the best idea to have a raucous party the same day he was told he was head boy. Somehow he didn't think Dumbledore would be very impressed.

He was also sure that Lily was going to nail him to a post if he so much as blinked now. The weird thing was, she had been so apathetic about it all, and he was definitely expecting her to flip out. In fact he had been counting on it. He heaved a sigh, maybe he was finally bored of constantly goading her, it had stayed habitual, even after the whole post-OWL debacle. He had stopped asking her out though; he had Moved On.

Come to think of it he hadn't seen her all day, he had been ready for a stern talking to about responsibility. Huh.

Right at that moment, the portrait hole swung open, admitting a very flustered, but happy-looking Lily.

She made eye contact with him, and stopped mid-stride. Her smile faltered a little, but she walked over to where he was standing.

'Hey Potter,' she was a little out of breath, 'I was just thinking we should sort out about the summer.'

He was a little taken aback by her suddenly easy manner with him, but he took it in his stride. 'Yeah me too, only I'm not sure I'm really up to it right now, how about we meet up on the train?'

* * *

Lily was buoyantly happy as she wandered up from the grounds. She had no idea really what all that with Gordon meant, but it gave her a floaty feeling that she quite liked, it had just been nice to talk to someone. She reached the Fat Lady, and climbed into the common room, excited to tell Liv and Lena about her afternoon by the lake.

She looked around the room for her friends, and made eye contact with Potter instead. She felt the lightness drain out of her as it all flooded back.

Head Girl. Head Boy. Muggle-borns and Death Eaters. A whole summer at home with nobody but Potter and Petunia for company. Tomorrow.

She realised though, that half a day ago this would have bothered her far more than it currently seemed to. Maybe she was losing her marbles, maybe she was just over-tired, but at that moment she felt less stressed out about all these things than she had done in a long while.

She easily agreed to meet Potter on the train for a planning session, and went to sit with Liv, Lena, Peter and Remus in the comfortable chairs by the fire.

'So how was the first day as Head Girl?' Peter asked, grinning over his hand of cards.

'It was a breeze,' she said as she flopped down on the spare chair, 'though that may just be because the Alice is still here doing all the work.'

They laughed appreciatively at that, and although the prospect of what lay ahead was beyond daunting, she put it to the back of her mind, and set about trying to build a castle using the exploding snap cards with Marlene.

The day had taken some very odd turns, but she found that right then and there, she didn't particularly mind.

* * *

**So there it is, I feel very strange about this chapter for some reason. I know I'm spending a bit of time setting up the story, but I really want it to feel real. Thankyou so much to those who reviewed my little prologue, I would respond more specifically but it's very late and I just want to get this posted. Also I'm thinking this story needs more from other people's POVs, let me know?**

**Reading reviews is like Lily and James not (quite) detesting each other xxx**


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